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Profiles in Education: Kristin and Johnathan

For many parents, the decision to put their children in private school comes after a bad experience in public school. For some, however, they decide against traditional public schooling right from the beginning. Today, we’ll look at Kristin, Johnathan, and their two daughters, who are staying away from public school from the word “go.”

Kristin and Johnathan both grew up attending public schools, aside from Kristin’s year in kindergarten. However, when they began considering schooling options for their own children (daughters aged 5 and 2), they decided against the public option. Johnathan had considered a career in early childhood education and, seeing the public school system first-hand, they decided it was not what they wanted for their own children, due to curriculum and class sizes among other things. It was then that they began to explore other options.

Class sizes were a definite consideration for this family. When classes get too big (28+ in one classroom!), Kristin said “I feel like less time is actually spent teaching…it makes it difficult to meet every child’s needs.” Kristin spoke with her mother-in-law, a public school teacher, and began to believe that public schools “slow down the entire learning process…I want my daughter to excel in school and not be held back from learning what she needs and wants because of government policies.”

Of course, the decision to send children to private school is also a financial one. Kristin is a stay at home, coupon-clipping mom, so Johnathan works his regular job, umpires baseball and referees wrestling to cover the cost of tuition. Things like a new truck for Johnathan have to be set aside for now because, as Kristin said, “We aren't struggling but we still sacrifice for our daughters’ lives so they can grow up as healthy and happily as possible. It's all about priorities!”

Of course, a good education shouldn’t require sacrifice. While middle-class families such as this one struggle to make ends meet to get a good education, low-income families are unable to do so. Many of them do not have the option to pay for private schools. School choice would even the playing field and ensure that every child gets a good education.

well golly-gee willackers... somehow, my parents, me, and my brother all went to public schools and yes- some of the classrooms were over 30+ pupils. Guess what? My brother and I- obviously the more recent attendees of these public schools- we are both in our early 30's BTW- make over 6 figures each. So somehow I fail to see the argument being made here. The size of classrooms as well as whether or not they are public schools isn't part of this equation. Then again, we already knew that, didn't we? Of course its easy to be a shill for conservative causes. But if in doing so... at least have a valid point to make.

My daughter spoke Finnish on Christmas Eve.I thought my nine-year-old had just made up some Swedish Chef-style gibberish until she provided a detailed translation. And a few of her phrases sounded a lot like my older Finnish relatives talking.As it turned out, my daughter had discovered Google Translate. She converted a few English sentences to the obscure Nordic language, clicked the “listen” button, and practiced the paragraph repeatedly until she had it memorized.

No one needs to be reminded that we have an education system in crisis. While there are many reasons for the education dilemna at hand, one widely held belief is that our teachers are not prepared for the changing educational climate.

Teachers are given the incredible responsibility of educating children. Around the world, parents entrust these men and women to spend their days educating children with the expectation that they will stick to the curriculum and leave personal beliefs at home. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.

For the first time, the U.S. Department of Education has released information on graduation rate by state. This year, states used common measurements, making these comparisons possible. "By using this new measure, states will be more honest in holding schools accountable and ensuring that students succeed," U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in a statement Monday.

There are a lot of mixed messages surrounding the charter school amendment Georgians will see when they go to the voting booth on November 6th. Supporters of the proposal say it will ensure that parents have more of a choice in their child’s education.

Wednesday, in the critical battleground state of Ohio, Paul Ryan spoke about his plan for the 46 million Americans who live in poverty saying that "in this war on poverty, poverty is winning.” With one in six Americans living in poverty, Ryan said that he and Mitt Romney would help them join (or rejoin) the middle class. "Many of those living in poverty today were in the middle class just a few years ago.

After successfully executing the parent trigger option at Desert Trails Elementary school in Adelanto, California, and the protracted legal battle which followed, parents have selected a charter school to take over the failing public school.

Last night, school choice was the topic of discussion at a Delaware Valley High School Board of Education meeting in New Jersey. On the agenda was the possibility of accepting students in the the state’s school choice program. If Delaware Valley does accept state-funded choice students, they would be the third high school in the county to do so.